i am so sorry to hear the negative experiences that some of you have had.... yes love and truth does ask for money .. but so does every church ... but they have to... this is a great church and they make me and my family feel very welcome . without them asking for money they wouldnt have the things they do .... they give children bibles, give guest gifts, free coffee everytime you go .. they have to pay the bills to keep the place up and running ... without money .. there would be no church ... i support everything they do 100% i love the church and my life has changed sooo much for the better since i have been attending . so before you criticize it .. pls just think about the things they do .

I think you have something confused. You said they have to have money to give free coffee, gifts, and bibles. I agree. You also said without money, there would be no church. That part well, you're off a bit. You should have said, without money , there wouldn't be a gigantic building . The church has nothing to do with a building. The church is the people. I get so tired of hearing the same old rhetoric. It has in recent years gone from being about people, to being about how many we had this Sunday, how many were in a membership class, how much money you're giving, how many days a week you can attend , or commit to another so called ministry. At the end of the day, it all comes down to this....$$$$. No matter how you slice it, it is about how much of your cash they can pile up in their bank account.

So... bashing churches and their beliefs and other people/Christians disqualifies you from being a Christian? Get your shit together, holier than thou folks. Quit being biased to those you know from small-town cliques/families and get the facts. I want to speak to a very educated "Christian". Let's debate this shit. I hope the Lord doesn't put me into the bowels of hell for the cursing. He loves all, right?

No you don't, just a butt load of gullibility and a willingness to ignore common sense and logic. Come to think of it, you can believe just about any kind of bullshit with those qualities, guess that explains Mormonism and scientology. Just newer versions of the same bullshit from 2000 years ago, itself a fabrication from previous myths.

I currently attend, well visit, the Jackson location. I appreciate what they are doing but at times it gets a little dry and mundane. Most all of the worship team are children and a co-worker of mine said the pastor's wife sent a lady to our store to buy things for the church and had the lady use the wife's credit card and forge her name. Most of the time I like the service but I think God is telling me not to join.

I currently attend, well visit, the Jackson location. I appreciate what they are doing but at times it gets a little dry and mundane. Most all of the worship team are children and a co-worker of mine said the pastor's wife sent a lady to our store to buy things for the church and had the lady use the wife's credit card and forge her name. Most of the time I like the service but I think God is telling me not to join.

I currently attend, well visit, the Jackson location. I appreciate what they are doing but at times it gets a little dry and mundane. Most all of the worship team are children and a co-worker of mine said the pastor's wife sent a lady to our store to buy things for the church and had the lady use the wife's credit card and forge her name. Most of the time I like the service but I think God is telling me not to join.

This place is a joke. Pastor tries to be cute but is as personal as a brick, unless of course if you have deep pockets. Stick around long enough and you will see the mean spirit come out.

Yea, my family visited there a week or so ago and Cupples made a statement about serving was not his thing but he liked to be served. Made up our minds then, we will not come to a church just to serve a pastor so he can be comfortable. Tell someone to serve and then say that's not your thing, wow people open up your eyes.

We visited once and that was enough to know it was not for us. What amazes me is the number of people that do feel lead to go there. It saddens me actually because so many people could feel home there with all the inappropriate statements made by the preacher. From what I observed he basically exploits people's weaknesses and is able to convince them like a used car salesman that his church is the only church. Just read all the posts above,

Been reading on this thread today, and I feel as though I must say something here. I am a believer in Christ, because I have felt goodness and love when I seek Him on my own. I was a child from the other side of the tracks many years ago, and was treated with disdain by the "churchy" people. After I was grown and had children of my own, I sought out that sweet goodness I had known and knew in my personal life. I wanted to learn and grow and be a better person living a good happy life.

What I found in church was hypocrisy and people who have found careers where they really don't have to work, and live above everyone else. Anytime you have a preacher that wants to be in control of people and their money, you have a problem. There is tons of room for manipulating and scheming and also they network with one another. I am a believer that has visited many churches, and had a terrible experience at another. I just think that they are businesses these days, I haven't seen a real "Called" man of God in a long long time. Preachers should have to work like everyone else, and they shouldn't be expected to meet everyones needs such as visiting at the hospital or anything else, the church should do that for one another. The preacher needs to be bring the Word, and it should be from God, not from the preacher. Every time a preacher gets called out about money, they start in from the pulpit bullying people that question them. All the while smiling and sweetness pouring off of them, and their blind sheep following. Well, I am a believer, but I am not following anyone blindly. I prefer to connect to God alone rather than deal with that sort of drama. Don't even get me started on music ministers that think everyone wants to hear them wail 3 times a week. If you speak up, you are the devil. No thanks, I will stay home, and I won't be watching on TV either, lol.

Did your Mothers not teach you if you could not say anything nice to not say anything at all? Be nice, kind and have compassion in all that you do! That is not just a Christian thing, that is a Good decent person thing!!!!!

Every church will ask for money, its how they are able to keep churches open, they don't pay for themselves just because its a church. Secondly, you won't feel like every church is for you, if you don't feel welcome at a church or comfortable just go find another one you do instead of talking about the church that many people get something spiritual out of... People have different views and like different things, God made us all different for a reason. My husband and I personally love the church, we both grew up in small churches where everyone knows everything about each other, its nice to be able to go in relaxed and praise with music we enjoy and listen to the message and be able to connect with God and not worry about anything else.

I've noticed that church members there love to quote "pastor," but few seem to have a real grasp of scripture, only "pastor's" very loose interpretation of it. I did attend there for a time and felt like the messages skirted around scripture and even distorted it to "fit" whatever message he wanted to deliver. Genesis 8:22 says "seedtime and harvest," not "seed, time, and harvest" for example... you cannot alter a small portion of the Bible to your liking and then base a whole sermon on it. I just feel that people there are very misled. I now attend Fellowship and I feel that it is much more solid.

I've noticed that church members there love to quote "pastor," but few seem to have a real grasp of scripture, only "pastor's" very loose interpretation of it. I did attend there for a time and felt like the messages skirted around scripture and even distorted it to "fit" whatever message he wanted to deliver. Genesis 8:22 says "seedtime and harvest," not "seed, time, and harvest" for example... you cannot alter a small portion of the Bible to your liking and then base a whole sermon on it. I just feel that people there are very misled. I now attend Fellowship and I feel that it is much more solid.

I've noticed that church members there love to quote "pastor," but few seem to have a real grasp of scripture, only "pastor's" very loose interpretation of it. I did attend there for a time and felt like the messages skirted around scripture and even distorted it to "fit" whatever message he wanted to deliver. Genesis 8:22 says "seedtime and harvest," not "seed, time, and harvest" for example... you cannot alter a small portion of the Bible to your liking and then base a whole sermon on it. I just feel that people there are very misled.

Oh my goodness, you just hit on one of my pet peeves!! That used to drive me nuts, seed-time-harvest. It's such a small change but it just goes to show you that he will twist the Scriptures to fit what he wants.

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